RIAA and Co Goes After PCMag, Freedom of Speech Under Attack

[admin]

The RIAA, and their cohorts, the American Society of Composers and the Gospel Music Association, wrote an angry letter to the CEO of PCMag.com, attacking them for daring to publish an article about the demise of LimeWire, and alternatives to the music sharing service.

It also attacked another article which references a TorrentFreak article about a secret plan to resurrect LimeWire. But the the problem is that PCMag.com didn't actually write that particular article, it was written by IDG's PC World, even though PCMag.com received the blame for it.

Regardless, the RIAA accuses PCMag.com of supporting piracy and encouraging people to steal music, but PCMag.com believes they were only doing their job of "covering all aspects of technology". "We have, obviously, written about many online and offline services, including some that these groups might consider legitimate or "legal." However, the fact is that some users store and manage illegally gained content in music applications like iTunes. We would not stop covering these utilities simply because some users place illegal or even inappropriate content in them," PCMag added in an email reply to the RIAA.

And PCMag.com vowed to continue their coverage and not be silenced by an increasingly desperate RIAA, seeking a scapegoat for the industry's piracy problem.

More:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2373273,00.asp

[admin]

It's interesting to note that the RIAA only sent a letter to PCMag, and did not get lawyers involved. This is because they would never win a case like this in court, and they know it. It's the act of a bully, a group that has been given too much power by biased copyright laws and by lawmakers that don't understand squat, but simply believe everything that lobbyists tell them.

[doctorhardware]

The real question here is would the RIAA be stupid enough to pull a stunt like suing PcMag. PcMag also has some deep pockets too. I wonder if PcMag could push the RIAA so hard that they would try to sue PcMag.

[admin]

Having said that the RIAA may not have a case, all they really need is a stupid judge (plenty of those around) that's willing to listen and who know! I think one judge has already ruled that linking to another website that contains infringing material is illegal, and so linking to LimeWire alternatives (with LimeWire being ruled illegal already) could also be considered illegal under the same ruling!

[Budreaux]

The more the RIAA pulls stunts like this, the more it will help pull them down. There has to be a point in which the masses finally get fed up with it and start pressuring those making the decisions to put a saddle on these groups. These are elected officials that think of themselves first.... take it out on them during election day and make sure you let them know you will not be voting for them due to their support of these groups.

[doctorhardware]

The more the RIAA pulls stunts like this, the more it will help pull them down. There has to be a point in which the masses finally get fed up with it and start pressuring those making the decisions to put a saddle on these groups. These are elected officials that think of themselves first.... take it out on them during election day and make sure you let them know you will not be voting for them due to their support of these groups.

Better said the done, just like the masses said no to government run health care. But did Obama listen, no he did what he wanted to and now we have a health plan that will end up killing people. Just look at Canada health care, Canadian citizens use to come the US for treatment, because the wait was too long, and would have killed them.

[Budreaux]

Better said the done, just like the masses said no to government run health care. But did Obama listen, no he did what he wanted to and now we have a health plan that will end up killing people. Just look at Canada health care, Canadian citizens use to come yo the US for treatment, because the wait was too long, and would have killed them.

Sorry Doc, but you really need to understand the healthcare plan before you start posting about it. I am not going to get into a political discussion about it, but you need to research for yourself and not listen to media sources like FOX for the so called mechanics. I'm an Obama supporter and I plan on voting for him again in 2012.

[doctorhardware]

This will be the last comment, so the 76% of the Americans also don't understand the new health care. Then the people that forgo pay raises to keep premium health care will now be hit with a luxury tax, and that is fact. My wife works for the railroad and will be paying that tax. My wife is also a legislative representative for the union, so I do know about it.

[admin]

Don't want to start a political debate, especially in an unrelated thread, but I thought I should share what the Australian health care system is like, well a very simplistic summary of it anyway.

Here, everyone (permanent residents or citizens) is entitled to Medicare, which provides free clinical visits and subsidized medicines for all. Dental is also included. It is mandatory. This is paid for via a levy/tax, which increases with the tax amount (low income earners are exempt, while the richer you are, the more you pay). Now anyone can still get private health insurance which has a bunch of benefits compared to public healthcare, but those that do will still have to pay the Medicare levy, and most still use Medicare at some point in their lives, even if they can afford more expensive care. It's basically a public safety net.

I would say though that people rarely visit the hospital unless it's something serious, but mostly rely on local clinics for regular medical visits and tests - most are privately run clinics, but they rely on partial government funding via Medicare. There are also public and private hospitals, with most hospitals being public.

The second part of public health is the pharmaceutical benefits scheme, which discounts certain common medicines for all (and greater discounts for some). Something that would normally cost $150 per month are sometimes reduced to just $15 or lower. About $9 billion is spent on this alone each year, but I guess given the annual cost of public health care, it isn't a great amount. And people taking medicine regularly without having to worry about cost reduces the risk of developing complications later on (complications which may costs the public more, so this is actually a preventative measure to reduce costs in the long run).

Of course, it doesn't mean that the standard of health care isn't without problems. Clinic/hospital waiting times, surgery wait lists, free hospital beds, nursing shortages, ambulance response times ... these are all common problems, which is why those that can afford it can go with private health care and get treated at better private facilities without as much hassle. The government subsidizes private health care too, paying for 75% of fees, with the rest being covered by private health insurers. About half of the people here have private health insurance.

It's not a system without problems, but our version of socialised medicine works. And we haven't turned commie either

But to us, the US systems (both the new one and the old one) seems rather confusing and expensive, and we don't understand why you won't adopt a similar system to ours, given that many other countries also employ similar systems.

[Budreaux]

Because we Americans are freaking spoiled beyond repair it seems. No one wants to give a little for the better of the community.
One word describes our problems the best....spoiled.